Summer

In This Tiny Corner of Ours

Summer shows up in subtle ways in their village. Tiny sprouts poking through the dirt, or the kittens wandering around the roads. The way the birds sang throughout the day instead of simply chirping the world awake. Their quick notes eventually turned into melodies floating on the breeze, dancing in the wind. Flowers perfumed the air with richer scents than their new buds had during the spring. The way fireflies began to blink in and out of existence when the sun fell past the horizon. Summer wasn’t just heat and blue skies. Summer was the start of liveliness for them. For Joohyun, summer was an escape, a time to hide away from the lie she was living. 

Putting on a character to entertain others’ fantasies was tiring. Joohyun played the simple, modest girl who wanted nothing more than to care for her village and carry on their tradition. Surprisingly, many of the villagers bought into the act, complacent with the girl they were presented with. 

Her uncle, Youngsoo, was especially happy with her. He’d been her caretaker since she was four when her parents died. He treated her as his own, made sure she grew up properly. She knew that she was a burden on him, though. There was a bitter undertone to his words, to his actions, and Joohyun knew it was because of her. She had been dropped on him when he was finally getting settled. His then-fiance left him because of her, and she knew he was still resentful for it. Joohyun did her best to care for herself, buying herself time before her uncle decided it was time to marry her off. It was inevitable. It happened to all the girls before her and her friends. Her mother, even, had been sent off to this village to marry a man she didn’t know, much less loved. 

Joohyun didn’t want that life. She wanted to get away as Seungwan did. She wanted to escape the cruel fate she was dealt with before she was even thought of. Seungwan had secretly auditioned for a music company, and not a week later, she was off to the States. Now, she was a pop sensation, living as Wendy, spending her days in the spotlight, doing what she loved. Joohyun didn’t exactly want what Seungwan had, but she did want to run away. Live a life she had control over, a life she could decide for herself. Most importantly, she wanted to live a life where she could be herself. 

She could just imagine it right then and there. She would be living in Seoul, in a cramped apartment that had barely enough room for two people, but it was home. She would have a job as a school music teacher, teaching children about the basics of music and how to appreciate it. She would be surrounded by friends. People who loved her and didn’t care about how she carried herself or how she acted, they loved Joohyun for being herself. The biggest thing about her fantasy life, though, was Kang Seulgi. 

Seulgi was the most important thing in Joohyun’s life. She made life bearable for Joohyun. If not for the fleeting glances and lingering touches, Joohyun would be a husk of a human being; nothing more than a soul adrift on the unforgiving waters of life. Seulgi made her want to believe that there was something better out there for them. That there was a light out in the murky darkness they were living in. 

Seulgi’s favorite season was summer. She said it made live somewhat enjoyable with the minuscule gifts it brought along with it. Seulgi was Joohyun’s summer, and she wouldn’t give her up for the world. 

-------

Joohyun’s daily routine went something like this: wake up, wash up, get dressed, tend to the garden, then head down to Granny Choi’s clinic for work. It was simple, the way she liked it, but it got boring sometimes. 

She was in the middle of pulling out weeds when Yerim and Sooyoung, the village’s only children, came racing in. She paid them no mind as she picked out the offending plants from her vegetables. The two of them knew her rules. They could play in her garden as long as they didn’t trample any of her blooms. Soon enough, they were both laid on the ground next to her, huffing and puffing from their running, giggling at each other. 

“Sis,” Yerim said, “Do you have time to play with us today?”

Joohyun shook her head, not turning around. “Sorry, Yeri, I have to work. Don’t you two have school today anyway?”

Both of them giggled in response. 

“Yeah, but school’s boring. I wanna go swimming in the creek today!” Sooyoung said. Yerim made a noise of agreement. Rolling her eyes, Joohyun pulled up with last of the weeds from her crops. She stood, heaving the basket of plants onto her hip. 

“Yes, school is boring, but learning is important, girls.” 

Joohyun waved them off, starting another race between the two, and walked to the back door. There was a compost bin there, mostly for their food waste, but sometimes Joohyun threw a couple of weeds in there. After she’d tossed the plants inside, she stepped inside of the house into the kitchen. It was small with painted, white walls. The stove was older than she was, and sometimes it barely worked. A square table was pushed against the wall adjacent to the stove. There were three chairs. One for her, one for her uncle, and one for Seulgi. 

She quickly went into her room and changed out of her now dirt-covered clothes and into her “uniform”. Granny Choi had made it a point to let her wear comfortable clothing, but they were still working, so Joohyun did her best to look presentable. 

Not ten minutes later was she down the road at Granny Choi’s clinic. The building was small with only about 5 rooms, including the waiting area. When she arrived, there were already three people waiting inside. She greeted them with the typical, “Welcome to the clinic, do you have an appointment?” and “Dr. Choi will see you soon.” She was sat at the desk for most of the day, but occasionally she’d help Granny Choi with a patient. 

The sun took its time climbing high in the sky that day. It seemed like hours passed as Joohyun sat at the desk, waiting for the next patient to walk in the door. Staring at the same room for an hour made time feel like a thick jelly. Her eyes were constantly wandering, searching for entertainment, but there wasn’t anything but Granny Choi’s calligraphy and old art hung up on the walls. 

She took to doodling on her appointment clipboard. It wasn’t like anyone else was going to see it anyway. As a human being with no artistic sense whatsoever, the swirls on her page looked a bit strange, but she kept at it. 

When the bell on the door rang, she went into her usual spiel, checking the clipboard and the time. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone coming then, so it must have been an emergency. She looked up to find Seulgi staring down at her with a whimsical grin on her face. 

“Hello, Joohyunnie, are you slacking off again?” Seulgi asked, looking down at Joohyun’s clipboard. 

“No, I’m just killing time, with my beautiful art,” Joohyun replied. She lifted to the clipboard to show off her awkward swirls, looking for Seulgi’s reaction. 

She laughed and took the clipboard from Joohyun. “Let’s hang it up on the wall next to Granny Choi’s art. She’d love it.”

“You mean you’d love it.” Joohyun grinned. Seulgi handed her the clipboard back, leaning on the counter. 

“So, tomorrow starts the first day of picking plum picking! I’ve been waiting all year for it.” Seulgi said. 

“Oh, have you? That’s what you said last fall when apple picking season started.” Joohyun teased. Seulgi rolled her eyes. 

“Can I not be excited to go and pick some fruit? I’m sick and tired of sitting in that general store all day. It’s boring and lonely.” 

“Who’s keeping you company this time?” Joohyun asked, tilting her head. Nobody came to mind when she thought of who Seulgi could be working with. They were the only girls in the village aside from Yerim and Sooyoung, and their men didn’t spend time picking in the fields.  

“Youngho!” Seulgi beamed. “He broke his foot so they kicked him off the boat for a month.”

Youngho was one of the boys in their village. He was taller than most of the other men and had a charm none of the others had. He was kind and relaxed, but hardworking. He worked with his father as a fisherman. That’s probably how he had broken his foot. 

“Really? That’s not surprising. He’ll work himself to death one day.” Joohyun sighed. 

“And you’ll bore yourself to death. You should come picking with me for a season. It’s way more fun than sitting around doing almost nothing all day.” Seulgi grinned, grabbing Joohyun’s hand and interlacing their fingers. 

“You know I can’t do that. Who else would be here to help Granny Choi?” 

Seulgi snorted. “I don’t know, Sooyoung and Yerim?” 

“If they were here helping out, Granny Choi would have a ,” Joohyun said. They both laughed at that. Sooyoung and Yerim could drive the most patient human insane. Joohyun wondered how they’d get on in a professional setting. They’d probably wreck an office, destroy a hospital, and cause chaos in a courtroom. The two of them were too energetic for their own good. 

“Well, if you ever wanna escape the clinic for a month, I’ll be waiting.” Seulgi grinned. She leaned in, pecked Joohyun’s cheek, then left saying, “Je T’aime.” 

Wendy taught them the word when she’d visited two summers ago. Joohyun was sure they were mispronouncing it, but she didn’t care. It was their word, their secret ‘I love you’. 

The rest of Joohyun’s day was filled with waiting until the evening came around. People piled in with appointments and injuries from work. She was familiar with all the faces that stopped by, one being Kyungsoo, probably the only man she’d ever trust. He came in with a burn on his forearm, something Joohyun could take care of without having to ask anything of Granny Choi. While she patched him up, they talked about his day, working on cars and stuff in the next village over. There wasn’t anything interesting that happened aside from the burn, which he got from accidentally resting his arm on the exhaust pipe of a motorbike. Nothing noteworthy happened to Joohyun either, except the surprise visit from Seulgi. He mentioned something about her attending their nightly gatherings at the old village head’s house, but she declined. The last time she went and hung out with rowdy, immature men, she almost lost her temper. 

After the sunset, Granny Choi left Joohyun to lock up like she always did. Fortunately for her, there wasn’t anything too serious that happened that day, so her clean up was quick. After locking the door, she walked home. Normally, she’d be wary of people out at the hour, but the only faces she saw were the village boys and some older women. 

At home, she got dinner started. She made the standard stew, rice, and side dishes. It really wasn’t her forte, but she tried her best, and Seulgi usually ate it without complaint. Her uncle walked in not twenty minutes later, calling a greeting out and shuffling to his room. He worked one of the harder jobs in the village. He worked as their and the surrounding village’s treasurer. Most of the villagers didn’t even know what the word treasurer meant, so he was left to keep the stress of his job on his own shoulders. Every day was a constant struggle for him to balance budgets and keep track of everyone’s spending. Joohyun wouldn’t say anything, but she knew he needed a break. 

Seulgi walked in five minutes later, joining Joohyun at the table immediately. She ate and talked about how small the plums were in the part of the field she worked on. She and Youngho had a competition to see who could pick the biggest one by the end of the day, and they both called a draw because they couldn’t agree on a standard for the shape and size. 

They finished dinner, without Joohyun’s uncle, but left him food and soju on the table for when he decided to get up. They hung out in Joohyun’s room, laying on her bed talking about what they’d do when they got a week off for the summer festival. There wasn’t much to do, but they wanted to make the most of it. They’d definitely want Wendy there, too. She hadn’t visited last year, promising that she’d make it this year and stay longer than her usual one month. 

Seulgi drifted off right in the middle of a sentence, and Joohyun giggled softly. She looked so peaceful when she was asleep. It was as if all the stress was gone from her, leaving a soft, relaxed expression on her face. She tucked a strand of hair behind Seulgi’s ear. Seulgi leaned into the touch, sighing. Joohyun let her hand drift back down to the space between them. 

Moments like that made Seulgi her summer.

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
No comments yet